


The Rise of Cupid

by MLMoos



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Feels, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rey is Cupid, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:54:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23248816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MLMoos/pseuds/MLMoos
Summary: "You, Ben Solo, are going to get me sacked," she drawled. Her accented voice made his heart race for confusing reasons he didn't want to examine too closely. She broke into his apartment. She was drinking his scotch. Being the sexiest woman he'd ever seen didn't change that.She unfolded her slender frame and began pacing around the coffee table, scotch bottle swinging precariously from one hand. He twitched every time it slipped, threatening to crash to the floor."First Sight Cupid. That's what I was. I'm the Cupid so damn good at her job I fucking invented Love At First Sight. And now because of you and your abysmal social skills, I'm not only no longer First Sight Cupid, I might actually get sacked!"Ben comes home after another disastrous date to find Rey, Ben's Cupid, on his couch, drunk. She's never had so much trouble with a mark and she's become desperate enough to break the rules.
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is not only my first Reylo fanfic, but my first fanfic period. I was inspired by this prompt:
> 
> "He came home after the worst date of his life. Sitting in his living room is Cupid, getting really drunk and wanting him to know he's the hardest person in history to find a mate for - and the reason he might get fired."
> 
> I hope you all like it.

Ben trudged into his apartment and slumped against the door with a groan. Poe was going to kick his ass in the morning, but really they both should have known better. Ben had gone out with Kaydel mostly to get Poe off his back. She didn't deserve their meddling.

Kaydel was a tiny, innocent intern. She hadn't been with the company long enough to learn of Ben's prickly personality or his infamous temper. But she certainly knew about it now. He winced as he recalled her wide eyes when he'd yelled at the waiter for leering at Kaydel. And her shocked squeak when he'd punched the wall upon finding an unsightly scratch in his black car. Not to mention her hasty retreat upon arriving home. She deserved better than a broken man like him. They all did.

He groaned again and trudged through his night darkened kitchen to get a drink, shedding layers as he went. A frown grew as his searching fingers met empty shelves where his expensive scotch should have been. The more he looked, the more confused he became. Where the hell was it?

A creaking from the living room made him freeze. Nightmarish memories flashed through his mind at the realization that someone was in his apartment. His heart pounded and his palms sweat. He reminded himself that Snoke was in jail. Those days were in the past. The man couldn't hurt him anymore. But whoever had broken into his apartment still could.

He grabbed a kitchen knife and crept around the corner toward the living room as silently as he could manage. When he flipped on the light, though, he found not a dark clothed burglar, or a menacing axe murderer. A gorgeous brunette woman sat on his couch, wearing a white wrap dress, drinking his scotch straight from the bottle. She wasn't wearing shoes. Ben didn't know why that observation stuck out to him, but he found himself transfixed by the delicate feet propped up on his coffee table.

"You, Ben Solo, are going to get me sacked," she drawled. Her accented voice made his heart race for confusing reasons he didn't want to examine too closely. She broke into his apartment. She was drinking his scotch. Being the sexiest woman he'd ever seen didn't change that.

"Who -" he squeaked, then coughed to cover it up. "Who are you and what are you doing in my apartment?"

She eyed him for an uncomfortable moment. He resisted the urge to fidget, reminded again of his time under Snoke. She was probably just a bitter employee he'd had to let go at some point. He had plenty of experience dealing with those.

"Korr, Phasma, Bazine, Rose…"

Ben paled as the mysterious stranger listed every girl he'd ever dated. How did she know? Had he really been so rude that she'd dug into his past just to blackmail him?

"I even tried Hux, for pity's sake," she continued, "and your file says you're straighter than a one dimensional ruler! And now Kaydel. The ace up my sleeve. The insurance for my insurance. My absolute last resort."

"How…" he stuttered. How did she know all of this? Even that horrifying drunken night with Hux he'd tried to erase from his memory. And what file was she talking about? How drunk was she?

She unfolded her slender frame and began pacing around the coffee table, scotch bottle swinging precariously from one hand. He twitched every time it slipped, threatening to crash to the floor. He'd been saving that scotch for a rainy day. She simply ignored him, rambling on.

"I even checked the registers to be certain your file hadn't been mixed up. I mean, the last time a Cupid had this much trouble with a mark, the mark turned out to be Ace/Aro and she'd simply been misfiled." She stumbled around to glare at him and Ben winced as the bottle slipped a bit more. "Do you know what they used to call me? Before I got landed with you?"

Ben shook his head. He just wanted his scotch back and this drunk nutcase gone.

"First Sight Cupid. That's what I was. I'm the Cupid so damn good at her job I fucking invented Love At First Sight. And now because of you and your abysmal social skills, I'm not only no longer First Sight Cupid, I might actually get sacked! Do you know how many Cupids have ever been sacked? Do you?"

Ben gaped. She was completely nuts. Or just drunker than a fish. Did she honestly believe she was Cupid?

"None, Ben! If I get sacked it'll be the first time in all of history!"

"Okay, look," Ben placated, lifting his hands to calm her down and maybe get his scotch back. She hissed and jerked back, hazel eyes spitting fire. He cringed as he realized he still held the kitchen knife. He really was hopeless with women.

As slowly as he could, he set the knife on the counter beside him. Then he lifted his hands a little higher, emphasizing that he was unarmed.

"First you threaten my livelihood, and now you threaten my life?" She pointed a finger at him again, but the movement made her stagger and wobble. "You, Ben Solo, are…" She staggered again and Ben shot forward, catching her - and the bottle - before either could crumple to the floor, "an asshole."

And with that she went limp in his arms. Ben groaned. What was he supposed to do with a passed out woman who thought she was Cupid?


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben settles in for a long night, only to wake up remembering things - and people - he'd rather forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to post this last Saturday, but this chapter took a couple rewrites to get it right. It's still pretty rough, but hopefully a little better than the last chapter.

Ben stared at the woman now lying asleep in his bed. Once she'd stopped yelling at him, he'd found something vaguely familiar about her. Like he'd seen her somewhere before. Intrigued despite himself, and too exhausted to come up with a better plan, he'd decided to let her sleep it off in his bed and deal with the aftermath in the morning.

Wisps of hair curled over her freckled cheeks and nose, fluttering from her breath. Worried they would get caught in her mouth while she slept, he carefully brushed them back behind her ear. Her velvety soft skin made his insides itch uncomfortably and he backed away, rubbing at his chest. Who was this woman that she could unsettle him so thoroughly? Seeing her in his bed was seriously messing with his head. The dark gray bedspread had never looked cozier, the plain, industrial style furniture looked more homey. Simply because a woman was in his bed.

No. Not a woman. This woman.

Ben beat a hasty retreat back into his sparse living room to make up the couch. He needed to get out of there. He needed a distraction. He needed sleep. The hard leather sectional practically snickered at him. He'd slept on it a few times and knew exactly how little sleep he'd be getting. Still, he'd slept on worse.

He shook away the gloomy memories as he spread out a couple extra blankets, only to have the memories replaced by brown hair, hazel eyes, and adorable freckles. He groaned and settled in for a rough night.

He fidgeted for a long while before giving up on trying to fit properly. His feet poked out over one arm of the couch and his neck crooked uncomfortably against the other. For about half a second he considered crawling into his bed with the crazy woman before his better sense illustrated in shocking detail exactly how badly that would play out. Eventually he dozed off curled up on his side. Hazel eyes and bare feet danced through his dreams.

***

*Three hours earlier*

"Rey, you're not gonna get fired," Finn practically groaned.

"You don't know that!" Rey paced just outside Maz's office. She could just make out the huge temple through one of the windows. Her heart normally swelled with pride whenever she gazed at its towers and stained glass, honored to be associated with such a respected establishment. Today, she winced. "I'm a failure."

"You are not a failure, Peanut. He's a Skywalker."

Rey whirled to glare at her friend. "So? Maz mated a Skywalker. They aren't impossible marks."

Finn scraped a hand down his face. She knew she was being a little ridiculous, but she couldn't help it. The moment Ben's file crossed her door, she knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime. This was her chance to truly impress Maz, her mentor, the woman who'd given her everything. Rey was First Sight Cupid. If anyone could hit Ben Solo, it would be her, right?

Five years later, she was beginning to question everything. She'd hit at least a hundred marks in that time, but Ben Solo had snapped every thread she shot at him. She'd done more research in the Cupid temple for his file than she'd done for all her other marks combined.

Finn laid a comforting hand on her shoulder just as Maz's door opened and the sprightly older woman poked her head out. "Come on in, Rey. Oh, Finn. Did you need something?"

"No, Maz. I'm just here for Rey." He glanced nervously at her and Rey turned back to Maz just in time to catch her curious frown. The matron of the Cupid organization peered back and forth between them, making them both fidget. Maz always saw more than anyone wanted her to.

"Why don't you both come in and we'll have a chat."

Rey and Finn grimaced at each other before following Maz into the office.

***

Ben jerked awake with a gasp. He remembered her. He sat up and moaned as his neck and back, hell his whole body, protested the sleeping arrangements. Loudly.

He checked his watch. 2:16 am.

He groaned and hauled himself to his feet, reluctant to squeeze back onto the couch. As he contemplated sleeping on the rug instead, his dream slowly pieced itself back together.

It was more memory than dream. He was seven, tagging along with his mother to yet another boring work function. In hindsight he realized most of them had been pretty everyday social gatherings, but his dream had fed on his childlike apprehension and made it a giant's banquet. The people were huge, the food was booby trapped, and the dance floor was an obstacle course from hell. It was a nightmare.

Then he'd spotted her. Wearing the same white wrap dress. Though at seven he was still convinced every girl but his mother had cooties, something about this girl made him stare. She didn't talk to any of the towering, glittering people, but she watched them intently, occasionally following one around. At one point, glowing white wings sprouted from her back and he gaped as she hovered above the crowd.

No one else seemed to notice her though. He wanted to say something, but his big mouth was getting him into trouble a lot lately. Then he saw her conjure a small, dark red crossbow from thin air and he couldn't hold back anymore. He tugged on his mother's sleeve in agitation.

"Mama, mama. That girl is going to shoot someone!"

His mother, surrounded by tall dark strangers, glanced down at him with a frown. "What are you talking about?"

Ben pointed, frantic that no one was stopping the girl. "The girl with the crossbow! She's going to shoot someone! Hurry!"

He kept tugging on his mother's sleeve, but she merely laughed nervously, paying more attention to the odd looks from the others than to her own son. "Sweetie, you're imagining things again. Now stop making a scene and go get a snack from the buffet table over there."

Without another word he was shuffled off to his nanny who pulled him toward the food. Why was no one doing anything? He watched in horror as the girl aimed and let the red arrow fly. Only then did he notice the red string trailing behind it. The other end was tied to a large woman standing beside the girl.

Ben had woken up the moment the arrow pierced the chest of the man across the room. As he stared at the rug he recalled how the string had pulled taut and the man and woman slowly gravitated toward each other until they found themselves dancing the night away.

It hadn't been the first time he'd "imagined" winged people. But his mother had always insisted he was making them up. Just an overactive imagination trying to entertain a bored child. The familiar stab of hurt and confusion clogged in his throat.

He'd been shipped off to his Uncle Luke only a few years after that. They told him he was just going to his Uncle's summer camp, but he'd overheard his mother on the phone. She thought he was going mad. And Uncle Luke was supposed to use his new age meditation nonsense to get rid of the hallucinations. Fat lot of good that had done.

He needed a drink. He shuffled into the kitchen and pulled down the scotch he'd intended to drink earlier. Before the bottle met his lips, though, he hesitated. The girl had drunk half of it. Her feet had left smudges on his coffee table. Her breath had warmed his shoulder as he'd carried her very tangible body to his bedroom.

She was real. She had to be. Which meant someone was lying to him. Or he was going mad. Again.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey's job gets a lot more complicated, and Ben has a painful confrontation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one took a while to get started, but once I hit the right groove it kind of poured out.
> 
> Also, I finally watched TROS and BEN SOLO DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER! Heck, all those actors deserved better. Nothing like fantastic characters being stifled by a bunch of suits who can't get along.
> 
> Anyway...

Someone was banging on Rey's head with a hammer and shoving stakes through her eyes and temples. Then she rolled over and realized it was a headache. She'd never had one quite this awful, though. Her eyes eased open as slowly as she could manage, but the light pouring into the room still burned. Rey moaned and planted her face in the pillow.

That's when it hit her. The scent. Books, clean laundry, and just a whiff of mint. This wasn't her pillow. Her fingers fumbled at blankets far too thin to be hers. She froze. This bed was too big.

Where was she?

She sat up to investigate the rest of the room and her pounding head screamed at her. Through the haze of pain she took in the boring, black and gray, utilitarian bedroom. Then the door opened and Ben Solo stepped in, wearing plaid pajama bottoms and carrying a breakfast tray. When he saw she was awake he paused.

"I, uh, didn't know when you'd wake up, but I figured you'd be hungry when you did."

Rey frowned. "Where am I?"

"You're … my guest?" He shrugged. "Considering how much of my scotch you drank last night, it seems like the gentlemanly way to look at this."

And that's when her memory caught up with her. It wasn't a headache. It was a hangover. She pressed her hands over her face and sank back into the pillows with a humiliated whimper. Ben had the audacity to chuckle as he brought the tray over and set it on the bedside table. Then he held out his hand and the glass of water.

"This should help with the hangover."

Rey eyed the pills in his hand for a long moment before taking them without comment. Human remedies weren't supposed to work on Cupids, but human liquor wasn't supposed to affect them either.

Finn is going to be pissed, she thought. 

"Finn?" Ben asked.

Rey moaned as she realized she'd spoken the thought aloud.

"Is he … one of you?"

Something in his tone made her bristle. The feathers hidden just under the skin of her back ruffled uncomfortably and she resisted the urge to scratch.

"A Cupid?"

He nodded.

"Yes, Finn is a Cupid." Rey had already told him far too much last night. Besides, Skywalkers had always been able to see Cupids. And she was desperate. She'd come to get his help so she might as well answer his questions. She started munching on the toast and eggs he'd brought, but he just watched her. "Thank you for this," she mumbled around a mouthful of egg. Her stomach echoed the sentiment with a gurgle.

Ben dropped onto the edge of the bed, as if his legs simply forgot how to hold him up. His mouth opened and closed several times.

Okay, so maybe she'd overestimated his mental resilience a bit. "Look, I know it's kind of a shock for your Cupid to suddenly start talking to you, but to be fair, I was shocked as well when Maz told me your family line has always been able to see us anyway. But I suppose I shouldn't have been when it's common knowledge that your grandfather, Anakin, was a Cupid."

At this he surged up from the bed and began to pace. "No. No, no, no, no, no. I did not go through all those awful years of therapy just to have one of my … admittedly quite detailed hallucinations accuse me of fabricating my own grandfather."

Rey gaped at him. "You … you think I'm a figment of your imagination?"

"Yes. That's the only logical explanation."

She stared, dumbfounded. "So you think you're having a full conversation with … wait. Therapy? What therapy?"

"What do you mean, what therapy? You're in my head, you should know."

Rey rolled her eyes. She did not have time for this nonsense. Setting the food carefully aside, she marched up and slapped him. "Could a bloody hallucination do that? Didn't your mother tell you anything?"

He stared in shock for a long moment before his expression hardened into a glare. "My mother told me I was hallucinating. Pitied me because I was losing my mind. My Uncle even tried hypnosis to get rid of hallucinations like you. And now you're telling me they're all wrong?"

Rey's heart beat faster and faster as the fury built up inside. Leia Organa-Solo, only daughter of the Cupid Anakin, royal pain in Maz's ass, had convinced her own son that the Cupids he could see, the Cupids Leia had seen her whole life, were hallucinations? "Are you telling me," she whispered, "that Leia and Luke never told you what your grandfather was? Why your grandmother died? What the hell you even are?"

They glared at each other for several long minutes, both breathing heavily. Then Ben glanced around erratically, hands clenching over and over. "I …  
I have to … I need …" He wandered out of the room and she heard the rustle of fabric and clinking of keys before the front door clicked open and shut.

Rey sank back onto the bed. This mark was going to be a hell of a lot harder than she'd anticipated.

***

Ben didn't know where he was going. He just had to get out of there. Thankfully it was Saturday, his day off, so he didn't have anywhere to be.

His mind swirled and his heart raced as he drove through the busy streets of Coruscant. People crowded the sidewalks, the shops, the office buildings. Normal people living normal lives. He'd been one of them once. The world was simple then, if not terribly exciting. What he wouldn't give to have that simple life again. To know without doubt what was real and what wasn't.

Then one of those people sprouted wings. And then another. His eyes popped and a strangled whimper escaped. He couldn't handle this anymore. He had to know. Once and for all.

The busy streets of Coruscant gave way to quieter, greener residential neighborhoods. He pulled into his mother's driveway and barely took the time to put it in park before shoving out of the car and marching up the front steps. Only when his fist came up to knock did he pause.

What if he was wrong? What if he went in there and confronted her and she continued to defend herself? Could he risk being admitted to a psych hospital? Before he could make a final decision, the door opened and he found himself facing not his mother, but Poe Dameron.

"Ben?" Poe asked. "What are you doing here? On a Saturday morning?"

Ben's eyes narrowed. "What am I doing here? This is my mother's house. What are you doing here?"

"Poe, who are you…" Leia appeared behind Poe. "Ben? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"Why aren't you with Kaydel?" Poe added, confusing everyone. "Did something happen last night? Or should I say, not happen?" Poe winked and Ben pinched the bridge of his nose.

"First of all, I'm pretty sure Kaydel hates me now, so thanks for that. And second, I would never go that far on a first date."

Leia smirked as she glanced between the two men. "First date? Is this something I should know about?"

As he turned back to his mother, the anxiety that had been building all morning came rushing back. "Mother, I need to talk to you."

"Uh oh," Poe whispered. "That date must have been one hell of a disaster."

Ben grit his teeth. This was extremely important and they were wasting his time. "Can I come in or not?"

The amusement drained from Leia's face at his icy tone. She simply nodded and all three of them strode into the house.

It was a large house by any standard. But whereas his childhood schools and playgrounds had grown small as he got older, his parent's house never lost its sense of grandeur. He always felt small and insignificant in this house, with its artfully carved staircases, state of the art appliances, and huge vaulted ceilings.

Poe flopped into his dad's recliner and Leia perched on the edge of the couch, but Ben remained standing. He was far too worked up to sit.

He glanced at Poe briefly, before deciding he didn't care if his colleague heard. He'd find out eventually anyway. They always did.

"Mom," Ben began, but the question got stuck in his throat. He coughed a few times and Leia began to frown. "Are the Cupids real?" he finally spat.

If Ben hadn't been watching his mother closely, he might have missed the split second in which her face paled and her eyes widened before she sighed and began picking at the nonexistent lint on her white dress pants. "You know, Ben, I'm not sure this is an appropriate conversation to have in front of company."

"I don't care. I need to know once and for all. Did you lie to me? Did Uncle Luke lie to me? Did…" Ben choked on the words. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to this particular question. "Did Dad know?" he finally whispered.

Ben had always wanted to be just like his dad. Tough, independent, reliable. Han had taken Ben everywhere when he was little. So many adventures that would build Ben into the man he wanted to become. Then the hallucinations had started. His father didn't know how to deal with something like that. And the hero his dad had been in Ben's eyes faded.

Leia surged to her feet. "No, Ben. I swear your father never lied to you." She froze and clapped a hand to her mouth, as if she hadn't meant to say the condemning words.

Ben stumbled back a step, the truth slicing through him. "But you did," he croaked.

A single tear trickled down her cheek. "Ben, please. I never meant…"

He couldn't hear any more. She had lied to him. Made him believe he was crazy, mentally unstable, a freak. His own mother.

He turned and marched back out, his tires squealing as he sped away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, at this point this story could go one of two ways.
> 
> 1\. Way more complex, but awesomely epic with more emphasis on the fantastical elements. (Snoke would be playing a much larger role here.)
> 
> Or
> 
> 2\. Simple and sweet, with more emphasis on the modern romance plot. (Snoke would remain as mostly benign backstory.)
> 
> (to be clear, the romance will always be the primary focus, but it's whether the backdrop is more modern and contemporary or drifts into fantasy epicness.)
> 
> Which would you rather read?

**Author's Note:**

> I had kind of hoped for this first chapter to be a little longer, but I've been so nervous about posting anything here for so long, I just wanted to get it over with.
> 
> And I have no idea how many chapters this is going to end up being. I hope it isn't awful.


End file.
